Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kayleigh Deeks. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kayleigh, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I have always been drawn to art and how wonderful it feels to create something with your own hands and imagination. I remember making crafts at a very young age and loving every second of it.

When I was around 10 years old, I learned how to make jewelry. At around 11 years old, I participated in my first craft show. I remember raking in over $100 and feeling over the moon! From this moment I knew that I wanted to carve my own path and use my skills to earn a living, but it never felt like a realistic dream that I could make come true; the phrase “starving artist” was always lurking in the back of my mind.

Once I entered high school, my creative endeavors began to stall until I discovered a love for photography during my senior year. The camera opened up a whole new world of creative expression for me, so much so that I decided to earn a degree in photography. I never had a full-time job within this field, but after a decade of side-gigs (and realizing that digital photography wasn’t messy or hands-on enough for me), I finally chose to stop pursuing it as a professional career.

As I mentioned, Jewelry making was the first medium that allowed me to pursue some monetized endeavors, but my first true love was collage art. My mom was always buying magazines as a child, and I distinctly remember using them to create collages as young as 3 years old. I starting using collage art as a way to cope with a lot of depression I had been experiencing in my early 20s. I dabbled quite a bit within this medium at the time, but didn’t have any sort of career ideas on the horizon. Fast forward a few years, and by the most serendipitous occasion, I met a woman who invited me into the gallery she manages at The Jenks in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. I have been participating in shows there since the end of 2023, and have now earned a permanent space for my work. I have been a top-selling artist at this venue, and if it wasn’t for Luanne Bole-Becker reeling me into this space, I’m not sure I would have ever realized that pursuing a full-time art career might ACTUALLY be viable!

So the short version of that would be, I think I’ve always wanted to pursue art as a profession, but it never felt viable or realistic until very recently – but I’m loving the ride so far!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As I mentioned, the concept of collage has been with me most of my life. What I love about collage is that it is an incredibly accessible medium, and it’s very easy to get into with low skill and experience levels. I think a lot of people are afraid to try their hand at art because they’re afraid they won’t be good at it. Collage, in my opinion, chisels away a bit of that fear because you don’t have to know how to draw a straight line or which brush to use – just grab some scissors and a glue stick and get started!

I think the accessibility is what initially drew me to collage, but my love for vintage and antique items is what truly seals the deal for me. I love that I can combine two seemingly disconnected interests into a beautiful collaboration. It makes me so happy that I’m able to preserve bits and pieces of history within my work. You learn a lot of history just casually leafing through materials. I have a huge collection of all different kinds of magazines, postcards, ledgers…it’s crazy how much I have. Maybe I don’t like collage work as much as I think I do – maybe it’s just a justification for buying more antiques! Of course I’m kidding, and if you are familiar with my work at all, you’ll know that humor is an overarching theme throughout most of my work.

Over the years, I had unsuccessfully tried marrying my collage work with jewelry making. I tried so many different ways to merge these passions of mine, but never came up with anything that worked well. I finally got a laser engraver, and that made all the difference! I’m now able to create small collages on wood pieces, and cut them into earrings. Something about having to try and fail and try and fail and then finally have something work is so incredibly satisfying. The trial and error process is such an unseen aspect of being an artist, and it’s one that I think we can sometimes take for granted. The problem solving, at least for me, can be incredibly therapeutic- I feel so self-assured when something works out!

More than anything, these therapeutic benefits of art are the driving force behind my work. I feel so fortunate that I was born with an innate artistic eye and creative abilities, and that I’ve had these skills to assist me through dark times. I’m saddened by the reality that most people never get to understand the benefits of creating something with your hands. People turn to poor coping mechanisms and maladaptive behavior to deal with mental distress – it’s my goal to enrich others with the understanding that art is a wholly beneficial way of coping with trauma and mental illness. I went back to school last summer to earn a certification in art therapy so I can better equip myself with the tools I need to help others help themselves through art.

What I’m most proud of pertaining to my art is that my two daughters get to witness what hard work and dedication to your vision can build. I know I’m at the beginning stages of building my career, but they’ve already gotten to see my work displayed at many galleries and craft markets. They see how many pieces I create and they know the time involved in building a body of work. I also hope that as I begin teaching others how to use art as a therapeutic tool, they’ll learn how to have empathy and compassion for the brokenness of others. They may or may not have any sort of artistic career, but if I can teach them the value and importance of hard work and caring for people, I will have considered it all a success!

If there’s one thing I want people to know about my work, it’s that I do it for me. This is an increasingly difficult thing to do when you have algorithms to appease and people that seemingly make careers out of getting intentionally offended, but I refuse to change my process, my pieces, or my voice to attract and retain followers. I love analog technology and I love analog human experiences, so I give little effort to my online presence. Most people don’t “get” my work, and I’ve finally learned how to be okay with that. I love that I create weird art and that weird people appreciate it!

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

PLEASE STOP BUYING “ARTWORK” FROM HOBBY LOBBY AND MICHAEL’S AND HONESTLY PROBABLY ANY BIG BOX STORE!! We’re entering an incredibly sad time for artists with the rise of AI. I’ve already personally seen AI “art” being sold in these stores. It’s been noted that Michael’s steals and reproduces artist’s work. Consumers also need to stop purchasing goods from shops like Temu and Shein. They are incredibly unethical and I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of the art and designs they sell are stolen. So many people claim they want the world to be a better place, yet they won’t make simple, basic changes to how they purchase their goods. Not buying mass produced, stolen goods is a very easy way to make a difference in the art community. Think quality over quantity!

And don’t use AI for image generation.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Helping others learn the importance of art for both the individual and society is my main goal driving my journey. If you’re not a creative, it’s easy to go through life without realizing how impactful the arts are on everyone’s daily life. I like to point out things like ketchup bottles, road signs, kitchen towels – literally almost everything we use and touch was impacted by a creative. Why do hospitals and offices feel so cold and uninviting (other than the obvious fact that no one wants to be in the hospital or at work)? Because they’re almost completely devoid of artistic influence! As soon as we place function over form, we lose the beauty of the human touch. Creatives are responsible for the majority of our entertainment (i.e. music, movies, video games, books), and are responsible for the ways in which we identify ourselves through these interests.

I won’t go into great detail since I already spoke about it, but art is a proven therapeutic modality. When an individual struggles to identify their trauma or problems, art therapists are able to get to the core of a client’s issues simply through the creative work they produce during their sessions. “To make the unseen, seen” is the goal of art therapy, and I think that’s extraordinarily powerful. Even if someone doesn’t see a art therapist, they can still use art as therapy and benefit from it greatly. I hope to use art as therapy to assist others in coping with their mental distress.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @cagelesscreations